cktimes.ca Archives for Ecowrappin'
Ecowrappin'
Ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
This past week I received an invitation to attend Chatham-Kent’s first Environmental Summit! It is being held as part of the municipality’s Community Strategic Plan (CSP). The CSP has six separate pillars of health, economy, culture, civic engagement, learning and environment. This summit will be a meeting of people willing to provide feedback to the steering committee for the environment pillar.I am intrigued by this attempt to bring people together to address environmental concerns. When you get over 100 people from various environmental perspectives together you hope for an exchange of information, increased awareness of local conditions, and a reinforced political will to make positive changes.
I will be in attendance on Dec. 13, all day long at Ridgetown College. This part of Canada has the greatest diversity of species in the nation. The fertile soil and moderate winters are significant in keeping it that way. The coastal wetlands of Rondeau and eastern Lake St Clair are world class staging areas for migratory waterfowl and other birds. Indeed the loss of them could mean the loss of many species of birds that travel through here each year.
There are serious environmental problems in Chatham-Kent. The most obvious demonstration of these is the pitiful level of forest cover. The isolation of those remaining wooded fragments also causes problems as travel corridors for safe wildlife movement is a necessary component to a healthy and sustainable landscape.
A recent study attempts to quantify our “Natural Capital”. It places real dollar values on the “Ecological Goods and Services” that we gain from having these natural areas. The study shows us what is at stake with the choice to develop rather than protect, conserve or restore.
Examples of ecological goods and services that we might lose without fully considering are things like waste treatment, water purification, flood attenuation, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, biodiversity, recreation, soil formation and retention, air quality, fuel, water supply, and food.
Here is a quote from the author of the study. “No company would stay in business long if its management did not know how much product was being produced, how much it cost to produce it, or the market price for the product. Why should we treat our natural capital – capital that sustains life on the planet – any differently?” – Nancy Olewiler
It is reassuring to me to think that Chatham-Kent is starting down a road which leads to such a re-adjustment in thinking. It does not have to be at the expense of development but it will demand more consideration of where, how, and how much to develop.
Darnned right I will attend. It is a step towards Chatham-Kent thriving as a sustainable community. I am pleased to be invited and ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work.
Darrell Randell works for Ducks Unlimited Canada as a Conservation Programs Specialist in South West Ontario. Before that he was a Lambton County Pork Producer for 25 years. He served 2 terms on Sombra Township Council, 1994-2000, and is currently a councillor in St Clair Township. He is a past president of the Lambton County Federation of Agriculture. He was a founding member of the Rural Lambton Stewardship Network and served as chairman of that group from 1995-2003. He and Nancy have 3 grown children, each of whom they are extremely proud.
